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J. DE STEFANfL, LIFE SkVING DEVICE FOR SUBMARINES.

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Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

2 SHEFTS-SHEET 1 whess q 1. DE ST EFANO. LIFE SAVING DEVICE FOl LSUBMMHNES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4,1921.

Patented Sept. 5; 1922.

r 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

on the sur ace of the water.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

v UNITED sTATes JACOB DE STEFANO, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR 0F RAPPAS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

PATENT OFF-ICE.

ONE-HALF" TO PETE LIFE-SAYING DEVICE FOR suBMAnInEs.

Application filed April 4, 1921. Serial No. 458,235.

To all whom it may concern: i

' Be it known that I, JAooB DnSrnrANo, a subject of the'King of Italy, and a resident of Kansas City, county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Life-Saving Devices for Submarines,of which the followingis a complete specification.

This invention relates to life saving ap paratus for use on submarines and vessels of practically any description, and has for its object to produce a device whereby the entire crew of a submarine may escape should the vessel become unmanageable through accident and commence to sink, or rest submerged and be unable to rise to the Surface of the water. 1

Another object is toproduce a device of this character wherein the personsenclosed may be protected from the elements and which will float on the surface for an in definite period of timelwithout danger to such occupants. l

With these general objects in view the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar featuresof construction and organization "of parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood, referenceis to behad'lto the accompanying drawingsfinwhich: 1 Figure 1 is a side elevation of a submarine equipped with two of'the devices of the invention, it beingunderstoodfthat therela- 'tive sizes of the submarine and life saving device are out of proportion, to more clearly illustrate the invention.

Figure 2, is a side elevation of the device as it will a pear when released and floating Figure 3, is a central vertical section of to the submarine.

the device and connections for fastening it Figure 4, is a top plan view, partly broken away to illustrate the interior ofthe device and the release mechanism at the bottom thereof. r i i a In the said drawings, where like reference characters: identify corresponding parts in all of the figures, 1 is a'submarineof conventional design and charactcrand equipped with two of the "life saving devices oft-heinvention 2, which are constructed of metal of suflicient thickness to withstand all 'water pressures to which the submarine will be subjected and which are provided with windows 3, a guard or cage 4 to protect the door 5 of a manhole fromfloating objects in a,rough sea. Thedoor .5 is equipped with hinges 6 for an obj ect hereinafter mentioned.

To one side of the device and outside of the guard or cage 4, is a vertical air tube or vent 7 equipped at its upper end with cross tubes 8, which are provided with flared mouths 9 facing in opposite directionsfor the purpose of aiding in the ventilation of the device when it is floating on the surface of the water. The top of the air vent 7 is provided with an electric lamp 10 which which may have any suitable connections (not shown) with a source of energy in the interior of the device. Within the device the lower end of tube 7 is provided with a functions as a signal lamp at night and;

branch portion 11 extending to the exterior of'the device just above the water level; the

tube 7. and its branch 11 being provided with hand valves 12 and 13 respectively, within the life saving device for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. y a

On'the inner side of he hinged cover 5 is a groove 14 into which a' metal gasket 15 snugly fits toprevent the entry of water when the device is submerged; and at its center is provided. with a reinforcement 16 to'which is secured a stud bolt 17 extending into the life saving device and upon which is slidably mounted a cross piece 18 engaging the inner side of the deck 19 of the device. Against the clamping cross piece 18, a hand wheel 20 is provided for securely clamping the cover, 5 against the circular flange 21 on the upper face of the deck 19 and thus compresses the gasket and prevents the entry of water into the device, either when it is submerged or when floating on the surface of the water durlng rough weather when it w1ll be necessary to close the door.

, The lowerpart of the device is provided wall of a submarine at as 25.; the deck of the submarine being cut away as at 26 to provide a slightly larger opening than the diameter of the dome 23 for the accommodationof the latter. The fio0r22 of the device is adapted to abut gasket 27 on the upper face of the deck of the submarine to establish a water tight joint therewith and also forms the floor of the device, under ordinary conditions, and a circular bench 28' may be fastened to the interior wall at a suitable dista'iice from the floor for the accommodation of the passengerscontained therein.

At a "suitable distance from the bottom of the dome 23 a floor 28 is provided and between this floor and'the bottom of the dome, lead, 'or any other suitable ballast 29 is placed inorder to keep the deviceu'pright when it is released from the submarine and is floating on the surface of the water. A bushing 30 extends through openings, in the door, the ballast and the dome and is provided at its-upper end with astuffing box 31 and at its lower end engages a collar 32 secured on a bolt 3'3 equipped at its upper end with a hand wheel 34 and at its lower end is suitably threaded for engagement with a threaded opening in a cross piece 35 spaced a suitable distance from the bottom of the dome 24of the submarine for a purpose hereinafter described;

At a predetermined point in the wall of the dome 23 is a manually operable door, 36 adapted to turn on hinge 37 and provided with a bolt 38 threaded on its inner endand engaged by a hand whee'l 39 forengage'inent with a cross piece 40 abuttin'gthe inner side of the wall of the dome. The action-of the hand wheel will firmly clamp the edge of the door against 'a gasket 41 fitted around the periphery of the former. At a diametrically opposite point, but in the inverted-dome 24 of the submarine is a similar door 42, provided with 'a hinge 43, stud bolt 44, hand Wheel 45, cross piece 46' and'g'asket 47 the wheel being so situated that it may b'eo-perated from the interior of the dome "of-the life saving device and thus prevent the entry of water into the submarineupon the release of such device. As it may be desirable in calm weatl'ier to openthe door 5 for'the better ventilation of the device and to enable the occupants of the device to easily reach the deck 19 for signaling purposes and-also for escape should aboat approach to-pick them up, a ladder 48 has been provided.

When the submarine is in normal working condition, the communicating doors 38' and 42 will stand open to allow afree circulation of air between the buoyant device and the submarine, and the valve 13- of the buoyant device will also normallystand in open position, for a purpose which hereinafter appears; and the door 5 and the valve 12 are closed to prevent the entrance of water into the device and submarine, and the threaded releasing bolt 33 is engaged in the cross piece 35, as shown clearly in Figure 3,

to maintain the device attached to the 'eX- terior of the submarine, and thus provide for the free circulation of air in the submarine and device, the gasket 27 maintaining awater tight joint between the two members. 1t will be understood that when submerged, water is free to enter air tubes 7 and 11, but cannot enter the device as the valve 12 will remain closed at this time. It will be'understoodalso that this life saving device may be made in various shapes and sizes and that there may be an-indetermi'nate number of such devices secured to the deck of'a vessel, depending upon the number of passengers contained therein.

Should an accident occur to the machinery of the. submarine while the latter is submerged, the crewwill enter the life saving device and will close doors 42 and 36 and fasten them securely imposition by means of the handwheels45 and 39. Hand wheel 34 will then be operated and through the upward pressure of collar 32 on the lower end of the device, will raise the latter should it have a tendency to adhere to the gasket27 from any cause. This action Ipermits water to enter the inverted dome 24 through the opening 26, such water being excluded fromthe interior of the submarine by the closed door42 and from the interior'of the deviceby the closed door 36. The continued operation of hand wheel 34 will release bolt 33 from engagement with the crossrpiece'35 of the dome 1 of the submarine. The instant the life saving device is released fromengagement with the submarine, it will, through its buoyancy, rise to the surface of the Water. Upon the emergence of the upper part of the device 1 above the surface, the water contained in tube 7 will drain out through branch 11, valve 13 will then, be closed and valve 12 opened to provide for the ventilation of the interior of the device, it being understood 11 that in calm weather, thefdoor 5 may: be

opened for the better ventilation of the de- VlCB. 7

It will also be understoodthat the device may be fitted to the submarine Without the 1 necessity of providingthe'latter with the dome 24, but. of ourse, in this instance, water will be free to enter the submarine the instant the floor 22 is unscated from the gasket- 27, and also that the device maybel20 made of any suitable or preferred shape and dimensions From the above description, it will be apparent th'atI have produceda'd'evice of the same, I reserve the right to all changes 130 character described, whichpossesses'all of properly fallin within the spirit and scope of theappende claim.

I claim: v

The combination with a vessel, of a buoy- 5 ant device detachably secured to said vessel,

a vent in the upper part of the device, a

valve controlling said vent and operable from Within said device, and a valve-controlled drain tube extending from said vent above the valve thereof to the exterior of 10 said buoyant device. In testimony whereof, I hereunto ai'iixmy signature.

JACOB DE STEFANO. 

